


How Far Down This Place Goes.

by Purpledragon6



Series: How Far Series [2]
Category: Tangled (2010), tangled - Fandom, tangled before ever after - Fandom, tangled the series
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Feels, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Minor Injuries, Minor Original Character(s), Redemption, Reformed varian, very light
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-05
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2019-03-27 14:35:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13882929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Purpledragon6/pseuds/Purpledragon6
Summary: Varian finds comfort while in prison from an unlikely source, but his stay in the castle dungeon soon becomes a fight for survival as not everything and everyone is what they appear to be.





	1. Chapter 1

Smoke and Bandit

(Contains very little spoilers for “Secret of the Sundrop. Takes place AFTER Varian’s arrest.

Summary: Varian has seen a lot of inmates in and out of his cell. He just never expected one of them to talk to him.)

The sound of water dripping onto the cobblestone floor of his cell was almost maddening. It was constant, and coming somewhere that was just out of his line of sight in the dark. The inability to locate it almost made the sound seem like it was coming from every corner- just a cell slowly flooding with unseen water until it eventually consumed the whole room and slowly drowned him- just like the rocks that had encased his father-

“I’m going to die here…” He whispered, his heart hammering wildly in his chest. 

It was almost loud enough to drown out the water- almost enough to quiet the sound of his teeth grinding together out of- fear? Rage? Something. He had been feeling a lot of things lately, after all. It was hard to keep organized without the mental filing cabinet he never seemed to have these days.

They had taken a lot from him by now. His goggles, his apron… Even his shoestrings had been taken by the guards to prevent him from hurting anyone or himself.

“… This is all her fault…” That was the only thing he had straight.

“You think?” A voice spoke, causing Varian to halfway jump out of his skin.

Blue eyes darted around the small cell slowly. He was used to other inmates taking up residence in his cell, but they never seemed to stay long. Either they were executed quickly, or the head of the guards would deem them too old and the arrangement to be too inappropriate. Most of them arrived when Varian was asleep, and none of them ever seemed to want to talk to him until now.

“I know…” He spoke.

“Well, then keep it down, kid!” The inmate exclaimed. “Do your thinking in your head…”

He frowned, his dark eyes scanning the area once more. This time, he managed to make out the shape of a heavily clad person. An eye patch covered one eye, and a tiger green orb glared daggers into his baby blue one. If he had to guess, this person was much older than him. Hopefully, this one wouldn’t be here for long.

“… Normally I would, but the silence might kill me.” He spat back suddenly, “Though, I think I’d rather have that then that king kill me…”

“… What would the king want with you? A baby?” The inmate snickered. “He must have nothing better to do with his time.”

“No… I tried to have the royal family killed for what they did to me…” Varian said. “… They took my father from me…”

He wouldn’t look away from that eye, which now seemed to soften for him. The first look of sympathy he has gotten in a while. Or maybe he was just taking what he could get from anyone other than his so-called “friends”. Either or.

“That’s quite an evil for a baby to pull off.” The inmate scoffed, their travel like voice grating on his ears. 

“I’m 14…” It probably didn’t matter to them anyhow. “And you?”

“32…” Their voice trailed off. “You really are just a baby.”

“What do you care?” He snapped. “I’ll never see you again after this!”

The water was forgotten. His thoughts and fears were tossed aside, and his old rage had flown back and hit him like a cold, cobblestone wall. 

“The only time I’ll ever see you all again is in HELL!” Varien was almost startled by how unlike himself he sounded. Almost. “I’ve seen this kingdom kill enough… I’ll either live long enough to see it die or end up one of its victims anyhow!”

His hands were shaking by now, the shackles that held them were rattling loudly. He just wanted to yell, or run away from this freezing cell, or hit something so hard that his fingers broke. Something that would give him a sense of freedom again! Instead, he did nothing but sit there and shake like a frightened child. 

“Fine by me! That doesn’t mean I don’t have to feel sorry for you.” The inmate said.

It did nothing to calm him. Nothing really seemed to work for him anymore other than sleep. 

“My name is Bandit.” The inmate said suddenly. 

Varian looked in their direction again, finding that his vision was quite blurred this time. He hadn’t realized he had begun to cry. 

“Hey, kid… Don’t do that.” Bandit said, reaching out a heavily gloves hand and stroking his tears away. “Tears will get you killed in here.”

“… I don’t need to be hearing that from a street rat.” He sighed, quietly leaning into the warm glove. 

It was a welcome change to the cold, hard stone and the itchy material of his dirty clothes. 

“You don’t look that homely yourself.” Bandit scoffed, running covered fingers through Varien’s tangled hair. “But I bet under all that dirt, you look just like anyone else.”

“… Thanks…” Varian sighed. “That’s kind of you to say.”

As distressed as he was, he wasn’t about to forget what his father taught him about kindness and how to return it when it’s given.

“A baby needs kindness in its life.” Bandit shrugged. “Or else they wind up in a cage like some kind of animal.”

“Still not a baby.” Varian frowned.

Bandit only laughed, running their fingers back through Varien’s raven hair. It almost gave him some comfort. 

“My babies were a lot like you.” Bandit noted. “Rough around the edges, but kind.”

“That’s nice…” Varien said. “Sounds kind of like my dad…”

“Sounds like most dad’s that I know.” Bandit sighed. “And husbands.”

“A family woman?” Varian guessed, wrinkling his nose at the thought. Another run of the mill villager here- He couldn't begin to imagine how the kingdom must have failed her and her family. “How did you wind up here?”

“I don’t have to tell you that.” 

A pause.

“But I told you what I did!” The alchemist exclaimed. He quickly realized how childish he sounded though, and withdrew himself. A blush appearing faintly on his cheeks.

In his mind's ear, he had sounded desperate just then-not that he really cared to hear any story of this person. Though that made him feel more embarrased. In the midst of things, Bandit laughed softly.

“… I tried to steal a box of gold for my children.” Bandit shrugged. “And all you told me was that you attacked the royal family because of your dad. What happened with that?”

“… The royal family didn’t head my father’s warnings on the Sundrop flower… It created these black rocks that destroyed our home-” Varian’s voice cracked, his shakes returning once more. “ A-and they kept growing and they encased my dad and when I begged for their help, they turned me away!”

The fresh tears that spring into his eyes stung worse than anything else. Even worse than waking up after his first night in prison. It felt like two knives were slowly being dragged down his cheeks. 

“It’s all THEIR fault!” He sobbed, “All I want is my dad back!”

He numbly fell to his knees and curled slowly into a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible. The pain was so great and all he wanted to do was wake up and have this all just be a horrible nightmare. Or sleep forever and live a better life in a dream. Whatever came first.


	2. Sympathy for the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is only so many times you can lie to someone before you're found out. For Varian, twice isn't the limit.

Prison food wasn’t terrible here. It wasn’t the best either, but at least he got a cupcake or cookie with it (curtosey of the princess herself). The food certainly was enough to stop him from starving to death- But the way he was starting to see the outlines of his ribs and noticed the bend in his wrists was a little alarming. Actually, it was a lot alarming, but he knew he shouldn’t show signs of a panic. It was always on days that he would start panicking that he would end up sleeping for days after he had dinner. If Varian didn’t know any better, he’d almost say that guards would put something in his food to “calm him”.

“Kid, it’s not as bad as you think.” Bandit had told him before scraping some of her left-over food onto his plate. “But still eat this.”

Varian smiled pathetically up at her. It was an absolute ghost of his former smile. The one that was so carefree and adventurous, the one he would accidentally crack when he would make himself laugh from his own jest. No, this new smile WAS pathetic in the form of a facial expression. He knew it, and he was sure that Bandit could tell too.

“Thank you.” He hadn’t forgotten to be polite, and inspected the food scraps.

It looked like apple sause perhaps, mashed potatoes (more like mashed parchment with how much potato skins was left on it), and some kind of vegetable that Varian didn't recognize as anything he had ever seen before. It was hard to tell what was safe to eat and what wasn’t anymore. It all tasted the same to him anyhow, even the bread with a patch of green on it had tasted fine earlier. Scrunching his nose a little, he began to scoot the offending green away with his fork and picked around the remaining “food” until he could finally bring himself to eat it.

“Eat the green also.” Bandit said, “Its good for you.”

Rolling his eyes, the alchemist stabbed it with his fork and popped it into his mouth. This was a saying he was used to hearing both from his life in Old Corona and his life now in prison. It seemed he could never escape the leafy death that was- whatever this boiled green was. It was blanched into an almost tasteless, leaf consistency that stuck to the back of his throat strangely.

“This is- From the top of a carrot!” He guessed, trying to accumulate enough spit to swallow the damn thing finally. “A DAMN carrot!?”

The curse word didn’t shock him. He had learned a lot of them while here. What did shock him is that they were just given potato skins and the top of a carrot! It made his skin crawl- not as much as the taste of the water from their shared canteen did when he finally got the offending “vegtable” down. The water was always warm and obviously reused from the pot that their dinner had been boiled in.

Varian took a moment to settle himself down before looking back at his plate and glaring at it hard in an attempt to get it to burst into flames. All that was left on his was a cookie from the princess, which he had left for the end out of a taught habit. Despite his concern over how small he was getting, he found that he didn’t want to eat anymore. His stomach felt like lead all of a sudden, with a hot fire built directly underneath it, torching the hell out of his insides. Frowning, he took the cookie off of the plate and tossed it over to Bandit, who eyed it suspiciously.

“I don’t want it.” Varian said simply, taking a few breaths to try and calm his stomach.

“I don’t either.” Bandit said, “I thought all kids were supposed to hate vegetables but love cookies.”

“They were, but I honestly think I’m going to throw up now.” He admitted, grasping around the cell for the bucket they were supposed to use as a toilet.

“Gods! You’re thin enough as is! Try to keep it down!” He heard Bandit exclaim, but he was a kid after all, who never listened to authority figures, even when he really wanted to.

The food and disgust and stress from this jail was too much for him and be forced himself to empty the contents of his stomach. A loud ringing sounded in his ears and his whole being cried out from the whole ordeal. He couldn’t help it though.

“Hey! What’s wrong with him?” A guard snapped suddenly, peaking into the cell.

Varian lifted his head to respond, but stopped and coughed up a piece of green. It sickened him more to the point that he emptied his stomach one last time into the bucket before setting it aside. Everything hurt now, and he just wanted to go into one of his days long sleeps again.

“Kid, I asked you a question.” The guard snapped.

“Nothing, sir…” He knew better than to blame the food, as before it had resulted in a lecture on how lucky they were to have as good of food as they did, no matter how much of a lie it was.

“Tell the truth.” He wouldn’t dare.

“That’s all it is.” Varian lied, scooting over to Bandit and laying down behind her. The sheild her coat provided made him feel less hounded by the guard.

“Is he sick?” The guard was talking to Bandit now.

“Dunno. He was eating just fine and ralphed after he ate a… Vegtable.” Bandit scoffed the last bit, sitting up a little more as the guard tensed suddenly.

Varian smiled pathetically at her once again. Sometimes he wished he was as old and as intimidating as her. Perhaps if he wasn’t a child who couldn’t stomach bad food, the world would take him more seriousl-

“Varian is sick!?” Princess Rapunzel’s voice wasn’t an uncommon thing to hear, but she never got as far as the door before she was stopped.

“N-no, princess.” The guard lied. “Just a cough.”

She probably would have believed him too, just like all the other times she ever came to ask about Varian. Only this time there was actual evidence in the form of the look and smell of vomit and a pale-faced boy curled up on the floor. How pathetic.

“That doesn’t look like just a cough to me!” The princess snapped. “Someone needs to tend to him now!”

The guard nodded his head, an act that made Varian’s stomach flip over again and again.

“I’ll fetch the prison doctor to have a look at him.” The guard said before rushing off with Rapunzel at his heels, surely to make sure he did it.

Varian watched them from his award position, and waited to hear the prisons’ only enterenace and exit slam shut. He then forced himself into a sitting position and leaned against his fellow inmate.

“And one of our plans actually worked.” Varian muttered. “Wish I didn’t have to eat that though…”

“You’re getting too small. It was either a bit of vomit or death by starving.” Bandit sighed, opening her large coat and wrapping the boy in it.

She hadn’t been able to remove it fully due to her wrist cuffs. Varian had had to watch her toss around on the verge of a heat stroke during the hotter days down here. He had almost begged the guards to help her, but had been met with a bonk to the head for “getting to close to the bars”. Accidents like that were far and few between now. He had learned not to ask the guards for anything and the weather had turned so frigid that he didn’t need to worry.

“What about you?” He asked, laying his head on Bandit’s collarbone. “You’re sick too.”

He could feel the outline of every bone under her skin already. It was sickening and cruel, and it killed him that this is what they had to go through.

“I’ll be fine. It’s you I worry about.” She sighed. “You’re just a baby still- Get some sleep before they come to take you. You’ll look groggy and sicker that way when you first wake up.”

He nodded and forced his eyes closed as he tried to induce a sickness filled sleep… Part of him hoped he wouldn’t wake up from it this time…

.

“Baby? The doctor is here for you.”

Varian cracked an eye and looked up to see a well dressed man before him, with the princess at his side. She looked worried beyond reason for him, but Varian resisted the urge to spout insults at her. Instead he just laid still while the doctor prodded him and examined his colour and temperature.

“Food poisoning.” The doctor said. “On top of a fever and some malnutrition.”

“Some!?” Bandit snapped. “A kid being this small is-”

The sound of a slap to her jaw promptly shut her up. Varian was almost relieved she had spoken instead of him.

“I’m the doctor, ma'am!” The doctor said stiffly. “It is only a bit and I won’t have the likes of you tell me otherwise.”

“And what about the likes of me!?” Rapunzel’s anger filled voice shocked them all.

“E-excuse me, princess?” The doctor stuttered.

“You can’t tell me that this is a small deal! He’s sick and because of our prison!” She exclaimed. “He needs proper medical attention, not just be left in here to get worse!”

“B-but princess-”

“No! Have him sent upstairs to the REAL hospital wing- at least until he’s feeling better.” Rapunzel said.

“But your father-”

“My father and I are going to have a little talk about this "food” the prisoners get. Don’t you worry about that!“ Rapunzel said, hurrying out of the cell. "I’ll have a guard help you get him upstairs… This isn’t the "help” my father said he would get him.“

Varian couldn’t hide yet another pathetic smile, pressing his face further into Bandit’ s shoulder. Not out of thankfulness for the princess or the joy he took out of that damn doctor and guards being frazzled. No, he was just pleased things had worked so well and that he would get to see the sunlight again. Even if it was just for a little while.

"Bring some of the sun back for me.” Bandit whispered secretly to him.

He shook his head. Their combined plan may have worked, but he was now forming a second plan to get them both upstairs. It was fool-proof- unless you counted the tools involved. And when Rapunzel came back, he put it into motion.

While he knew the princess wasn’t stupid, he knew she was sympathetic. All they had to do was play off of that sympathy.

He had cried enough tears to know how to fake them now, and he made up enough to fake a decent enough sob. Muffling them into the coat hide the parts that he couldn’t fake. It was almost funny how quickly he could sense Bandit catch on, but he had to hold in his laughter for later.

“V-Varian?” Rapunzel asked, “What’s wrong?”

Bandit ran her fingers through Varian’s hair, and even planted a few kisses on his head. THOSE could never be faked.

“Its only for a bit. Until you’re feeling better.” She cooed to him. “Bring some of the sun back for me, okay?”

“Oh… He’s just going to miss you?” Rapunzel asked. “You’re his friend?”

“I’m sorry princess. I think of him as one of my babies.” Bandit replied. “I wish I could go with hi-”

“You can come with.” Rapunzel spoke up quickly. “Just for a little while.”

“Oh! Oh thank you!” Bandit exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with her own tears.

It was hard to tell what was fake or not now. In a weird way, Varian would almost say he felt actual relief when the guard came in, joy when their cuffs were unlocked from the walls, and a bit of excitement as they were lead away from their cell for the first time in a long time.


	3. Somersaults and Those at Fault

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Varian and Bandit manage to achieve temporary freedom, giving Varian time to truly mull things over.

The outside world was a funny place to be in. Dangerous and often scary, but also very beautiful and freeing to be in. Bug bites, gentle breezes, sunburns- they were all so unique to the wild, unkept nature that Varian had come to miss. 

And continued to miss, as the guards and high fence keeping them contained to the castle's back garden reminded him that soon he would have to be returned to his cell- Just as soon as the royal physician deemed him 'well enough' to return back. For now, he was to receive an hour of fresh air a day, as was told by both the doctor and the royal family themselves. Still, Varian didn't take it as an act of kindness. 

“Its so- weird being outside again.” He laughed, “Don’t you think, Bandit?”

Looking over his shoulder, he couldn't help but send a loving smile to his 'friend'. She was sprawled out under the shade of a nearby tree, her large coat shed on a low hanging branch and a good book open on her lap. For a moment, her good eye being closed gave the illusion that she was sleeping, but Varian knew better. They had waited for this! There was no way she would allow herself to miss any of it.

“Hun, it’s all amazing.” Bandit said. “Just being free to do whatever you want.”

Varian smiled and made his way over to the tree. Once he found a soft enough patch of grass, he took a seat and looked up at the blue sky above them. It almost made the last few weeks in confinement worth it, as it made it so he could truly appreciate the world he had lost to the actions of others. The freedom he would never truly have back- the time of his young life that would never be his again-

“You’re fuming again.” Bandit’s voice drew him back to the ground.

“… You could feel that, huh?” Varian asked. “Sorry- Its just a lot to think about.”

“I know, I know.” A gloved hand landed on his own. “But let’s enjoy what we have now. Maybe go find a lake and go swimming.”

“… Maybe.” Varian pressed his back against the tree, feeling the grooves work out every knot that his cold, hard prison bed had caused him. “I’m not going to miss prison. That’s for sure.”

A moment’s silence ran between the pair before he felt Bandit get up. He watched her as she stretched herself out, and eventually as she turned to him. Varian could tell by the look on her face that she wanted him to do the same. So with a faux huff, he stood and raised his gangly arms to the sky.

“Think I’ll be tall enough to grab a cloud one day?” Varian said. “Metaphorically. Scientifically speaking, that’s impossible.”

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a way to touch a real one.” Bandit said. “Make one using alchemy.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea.” He laughed, and it felt good to do. “And think, if I could find a way to control it, I could ride it around high enough to explore the most dangerous parts of the world without fear of being killed!”

Varian smiled and laughed harder at the thought. Then he laughed harder and how it had been a while since he could laugh openly and about something genuinely happy and not ironic. Just doing that made him feel good enough to- start running at his fastest speed and toss himself into a cartwheel, actually. Something he hasn’t done since he was at least a toddler.

“Varian! What on Earth-” Bandit cried from behind him. “Are you alright?”

Another laugh escaped from him, despite his friend’s worry.

“It was just a cartwheel.” He said. “Ever done one?”

“No, I don’t believe so.” Bandit shook her head. “You scared me half to death. I thought you tripped!”

“There’s really nothing to it. My dad taught me how when I was little- so I can teach you too if you like.” He offered.

“Hun, it already looks like something that’ll take you years to actually teach someone like me.” She scoffed. “Some kind of circus trick.”

“Oh please. If my dad could do it, then you can do.Not only that, but we’ve got all the time in the world to work on it.” Varian said. “Come on. It’s keeping my mind off of the last few months.”

“… Oh, alright. But only because it’s helping to improve your mental health!” Bandit laughed. “Let’s get started then.”

Varian smiled, before taking a cartwheel position again and kicking off, watching as the outside world swirled around him like a pinwheel as he rotated from his hands to his feet again. The act left him slightly dizzy, but feeling more free.

“You try.” He called to his friend. “Exactly like that- I’ll spot you.”

Rushing over to his friend, he found that part of him hoped she would mess up. He wouldn’t mind doing a few more cartwheels if it meant he would finally have someone to do them with again.


End file.
